Well-drilling equipment



Jan. 6, 1931. w, s, TT 1,787,475

WELL DRILLING EQUIPMENT Filed April 20, 1926 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 F m 1 40W5 G 53 50 a II- H i 5| 54 5g JULL I v I o O 53 I 3| ,LJ WM W Jan. 6,1931. w. s. GATTRELL WELL DRILLING EQUIPMENT Filed April 20, 19264Sheets-Sheet 2 w. s. GATTRELL 1,787,475

WELL DRILLING EQUIPMENT Filed April 20, 1926 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 Jan. 6,1931. w. s. GATTRELL 1,787,475

WELL DRILLING EQUIPMENT Filed April 20, 1926 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 PatentedJan. 6, 1931 PATENT OFFICE WILLIAM S. GATTREIIL, F LEES SUMMIT, MISSOURIWELL-DRILLING EQUIPMENT Application filed April 20,

My invention relates to equipment to be employed in well drilling wherehigh gas pressure is encountered. The invention contemplates equippingthe upper end of the well in such manner that the drill stem may beintroduced into and removed from the well even under extreme conditionsof gas pressure.

In drilling wells with the rotary system of drilling in localities wheregas pressure is common. it is always a problem to drill the well withoutdanger of the welLblowing in, in such manner as to wreck the well drilling equipment and ruin the well. Blow-out preventers and other similardevices have been devised for eliminating the hazards due to drillingunder pressure. All the present equipment, however, is either inadequateor unsatisfactory because it does not allow the manipulating of thedrill equipment when the apparatus is used.

It is an object of my invention to equip the well in such manner thatthe drilling may proceed and the pipe be handled in the well withoutdanger of blow-out. It is a particular object of the invention to allowthe removal of the drill stem from the well under high pressure and tocontrol the flow of gas and liquid from the well when the stratum ofhigh pressure is encountered.

It is desired to equip the upper end of the well casing so as to providemeans for holding the pipe against upward movement and to also providemeans whereby the drilling pipe'may be allowed to move upwardly underrestraint so as to gradually disconnect the sections of the pipe andallow its complete removal.

My device includes the employment of hydraulicmeans to restrain themovement of the pipe and of pipe'engaging slips so arranged and mountedas to hold the pipe stationary at any desired position in the well.

The further details of construction by means of which my invention iscarried out will be. understood from a more detailed description whichfollows. Referring to the drawing herewith wherein a preferredembodiment of the invention is disclosed. F gs. 1, 2 and 3 illustratethe upper, intermediate 1926. Serial No. 103,191.

and lower sections, respectively, of my well equipment for carrying outthe invention, some parts being shown in central vertical section andothers in side elevation. F ig.'-1 is a view partly in section of theupper end of the casing frame, said view being taken at right angles tothe view shown in Fig. 1. Figs. 5, 6 and 7 are transverse sections onthe planes 55, 6-6 and 'T'T, respectively, of Fig. 1. Like numerals areemployed to designate like parts in all the views.

In considering the equipment of a' well wherein my invention may beemployed, reference is made to Fig. 3 wherein the upper surfacesurrounding the well casing is cemented over, as shown at 1 in thedrawing, and in doing so the surface casing indicated at 2 is cementedin position. It is to be understood that the said surface casing is oflarge diameter and extends downwardly into the well for a comparativelyshort distance. Vithin the surface casing is another concentric pipe 3which I shall term the outer casing, in that it is an outer pipe oflarge. diameter extending downwardly for a material distance into thewell. The space between the surface casing and the outer casing ispreferably shut off at the upper end by means of a stuffing box.indicated at l.

The upper end of the casing 3 is equipped with a head 5, ordinarilycalled a braden head. This head has a threaded connection with the upperend of the casing 3. its upper end being provided with a radial flange 6.which is provided with openings therein to receive the clamping bolts 1connected through the flange 8 of the gland 9 which forms part of astutlingbox, by means of which a. sliding. fluid-tight connection ismade between the casing 3 and the inner casing 10.

The inner casing 10 extends to the lower end of the hole and projectsupwardly through the braden head 5 for a short distance, as shown inFig. 2. It has at its upper end a large gate valve 11, ordinarily calledthe drilling valve., It is ordinarily open to allow the drill stem 12 towork through the housing of the valve. .IVhen the drill stem iswithdrawn, however, the valve may be.

closed to entirely shut off the upper end of the casing. The drillingvalve is anchored to the braden head flange 6 by means of rods 15connected within lateral lugs upon the lower end of the valve, as shownin Figs. 2 and 3.

Above the drilling valve is a swedged nipple 13 which is enlarged indiameter at its upper end and threaded for connection with a casing head14 of special construction. Said casing head is preferably anchored tothe concrete base 1 by means of anchor rods 15 extending through slottedlugs 16 on the lower end of the casing head and connected at their lowerends to anchor bolts 17 fixed in the cement. This anchoring meansprevents any tendency of the casing head to be blown off under excessivegas pressure, The casing head has, as is common, a lateral outlet 18connected to theT 19 through which the fluid may be allowed to passupwardly through the pipe 20 to the ditch when drilling is proceeding.The lower pipe 21 connected with the T 19 is to allow the outlet of oilwhen the well is brought in. A valve 22 in the oil line and similarvalve 23 in the mud line allows the regulation of the fluid passingthrough the pipes.

The casing head has a passage 24 to allow space for the drill when it iswithdrawn. Above this passage is formed a threaded socket 25 to receivethe lower end 26 of a specially constructed tool joint pin. Said jointis formed with a recess 27 adjacent the inner opening therethrough toprovide a seat for compressible packing means 28. The

' upper end of the joint above the packing receives a gland 29 which maybe forced downwardly on the packing to compress the same by means ofbolts 30 threaded into the upper end of the tool joint and havinganadjustable connection with the upper flange 31 upon the gland.

The tool joint forms a support for a frame made up of two side plates 32which are arcuate in shape, as shown in Figs. 6 and 7. Said plates areclamped onopposite sides of the tool joint head and are secured inposition by cap screws 33. At their upper ends the said plates arefitted within lateral recesses 35 of the spider 36. The said spider 36,as shown in Fig. 4, comprises a circular ring having a centraldownwardly tapered opening therein forming a seat 37 to receive a set ofpipe engaging slips 38. Said slips are of ordinary construction and arethree in number. They are secured loosely at their upper ends to a ring39 by means of bolts 40 extending through said ring and engaging in theupper ends of the jaws. The openings through the ring are large enoughto allow a play of the bolts 40 therein so as to allow adjustment of thejaws.

The jaws-may be operated by means of a lever 41 pivoted at 42 at oneside of the spider and having forked arms straddling the upper endof'the slips and having a block 43 on each arm engaging within aperipheral groove 44 in the outer face of the ring. This allows the ringto rotate between the two blocks 43 but allows the ring with the slipsthereon to be raised through the manipulating of the handle 45 in anobvious manner.

I also provide a second spider 46, spaced slightly above the gland 31.Said spider is of a general circular shape except that it has twooppositely extending arms 47, each of which has a notch or recess 48therein to receive the spool shaped nut 49. Said nuts have a threadedengagement with the two upright threaded rods 50 mounted at their lowerends upon the upper portion of the tool joint head 26. It will be notedthat the spider may thus be adjusted vertically along the drill stem bythe rotating of the nuts 49 upon the rods 50.

The spider 46 has a central upwardly tapered seat 51 therein to receivethe pipe engaging slips 52 operated through connecting with a ring 53and the lever 54, similar in all respects to the ring 39 and the lever41, previously described in connection with the upper slips. The lowerlever 54 is below the spider, however, and must be raised to throw theslips into a position within the spider so as to grip the pipe andprevent it from being moved upwardly. It is to be understood that whenthe gas pressure is heavy within the well it may be about sufficient. tolift the drill stem and tend to throw it upwardly out of the wall. Itgives a vibratory movement to the drill stem whereby it is movedupwardly and dropped and thus it may be gripped with both the upper andlower sets of slips, and in some cases both sets of slips become lockedfirmly-to the pipe, so that they may not be easily disengaged from thepipe by ordinary means. In my arrangement, if the lower set of slips islocked it may be released by moving the spider bodily upward away fromthe slips by screwing the nuts 49 upwardly on the threaded shafts 50.When the lower slips have been thus released, the -pipe may be raised,releasing the upper slip, thus doing away with the necessity ofhammering upon the slips and damaging the equipment in an attempt torelease the slips from the pipe.

The equipment thus described allows the operator to prevent the movementof the pipe in either direction and particularly to pre- Vent the pipefrom being blown out of the hole by pressure. When it becomes necessaryto remove the pipe, however, it is dangerous to release the lower slips52 without restrain ing the upward movement of the drill stem. This isdone through means'of a hydraulically operated hook 55 which is adaptedto engage within the upper end of the drill stem 12 and to receive thehook, and I equip the upper end of the drill stem with a. threaded pin56 having a recess 57 in the upper end thereof within which the hook mayengage.

The said hook is formed upon the upper end of a rod or shaft 58 whichforms a piston rod in a hydraulic ram. The lower end thereof has apiston 59 thereon operating within a cylinder 60. To receive thehydraulic equipment including the cylinder 60, ust described, I sink ashallow hole adjacent the well which is to be drilled to provide housingfor the ram. This shallow well has an outer casing 61 therein and withinthis cas ing is received the outer barrel 62 of the ram. The lower endof the barrel 62 is closed by means of a threaded plug 63 and the upperend is connected with a head 64 which has a central passage 65therethrough to fit closely about the piston rod or shaft 58. A stuflingbox 66 within the upper end of the head maintains a close and fluidtight closure for the upper end of the cylinder. "Said cylinder isscrewed at 67 within the lower end of the head in spaced relation fromthe outer barrel 62. The barrel 62 may or may not have a stufling' box71 closing off the space between the barrel and the outer end of thecasing 61. Pressure fluid, preferably oil or water, under pressure maybe forced into the barrel 62 through a valve controlled pipe 68, or itmay be forced into the upper end of the cylinder through the pipe 69connected with the side of the head 64 and having a passage 7 70 in saidhead connecting said pipe with the upper end of the cylinder. It iscontemplated that the fluid may be forced into the apparatus or allowedto move outwardly therefrom under control of the valves by ordinaryequipment, such as is usually employed with hydraulic pressure operateddevices of this character.

In the use of my device when the well has been drilled when under highpressure, the drill stem may be removed from the well without danger byreleasing the engagement of the slips 52 from the pipe and allowing thepipe to be forced upwardly by the gas pressure under restraint of thehook 55 and the piston 59. In such case, the pressure above the pistonmay be relieved gradually through the operationof the valve in pipe 69,thus permitting the drill stem to be moved up a suflicient distance toexpose the next adjacent lower tool joint in the drill stem. As will beobvious, any joints in the drill 4 stem must be made flush with theouter surface of the pipe, and I contemplate, therefore, the employmentof flush tool joints in the drill stem. When the next lower tool jointis exposed above the upper spider 36, the slips 52 will be forced intotheir seat to grip the pipe firmly and prevent its movement upwardly.The upper slips will also be placed in position to prevent any tendencyof the pipe to fall should the gas pressure be removed to any extent.The hydraulically operated hook 55 will then be rotated slightly tobring it out of alignment with the upper end of the drill stem and willbe allowed to drop toward the lower end of its stroke. The tool jointmay then be unscrewed and the upper section thereof removed and the hookmay again be engaged within the upper end of the drill stem and thehydraulic pressure operated to allow the pipe to be moved upwardly as inthe previous case, and to permit of this the slips 52 will be manuallyreleased. It will be obvious that some supporting means may be providedfor the operating handle 54 of the lower set of slips when the slips arein position to release the pipe. No such means are shown, however, forpurposes of clearness, it being obvious that many expedients may beadopted.

The advantages of this construction lie in the fact that a blow-out ofthe well is guarded against in a very effective manner, which allows theuse of a rotary drilling rig in completing the well. The drill stem maybe gradually removed in the manner described and when the lower end ofthe drill stem has passed the drilling valve 11, said valve may beclosed tightly and the production from the well may be allowed to passthe valve under control through the outlet pipe 21 to storage withoutdanger. The further advantages of the construction will be obvious tothose skilled in the art.

lVhat I claim as new and desire by Letters Patent is:

1. In a device of the character described including a well casing, acasing head thereon, and a drill stem in said casing; the combination ofa frame above said casing head, a drilling gland about said drill stemin said frame, means including said gland to preserve a tight fit aboutsaid drill stem, means on said frame above said gland to hold said stemfrom movement upwardly, and separate means to restrain said drill stemfrom rapid upward movement.

2. In a device of the character described including a well casing, acasing head thereon, and a drill stem in said casing; the combination ofa frame above said casing head, a drilling gland about said drill stemin said frame, means including said gland to preserve a tight fit aboutsaid drill stem, means on said frame above said gland to hold said stemfrom movement upwardly, and hydraulically operated means to restrainsaid drill stem from rapid upward movement.

3. In a device of the character described including a well casing, acasing head thereon, and a drill stem in said casing; the combination ofa frame above said casing head, a stuffing box about said drill stem,and manually operated means to hold said stem from movement upwardly,and hydraulically operated means to restrain said drill stem from rapidupward movement.

to protect luu 4. In a device of the character described a wellcasing,-a drill stem therein, means to maintain a fluid tight fitbetween said drill stem and easing, adjustable means to grip said pipeto prevent its upward movement,

- and auxiliary means to allow its movement upwardly with a restrainingforce independently of said adjustable means.

5. In a device of the characterdescribed a well casing, a drill stemtherein, means to maintain a fluid tight fit between said drill a wellcasing, a drillstem therein having 7 flush joints therein, means tomaintain a fluid tight fit between said drill stem and easing,adjustable means including pipe engaging slips to grip said pipe toprevent its upward movement, and auxiliary means to allow its movementupwardly with a restraining force.

7. In a device of the character described includinga well casing, acasing head there on, a frame on said head, a, stuffing box in saidframe about said drill stem, a spider mounted adjust-ably on said frame,upwardly tapered pipe engaging slips in said spider about said drillstem, means to adjustably support said drill stem, and means to move andsupport said slips.

8. .In a device of the character described, a well casing, a drill ipetherein, means to preserve a fluid tight ht between said casing anddrill pipe, and hydraulically operated means to restrain the upwardmovement of said drill pipe in said casing, and two sets of o positely Vdisposed slips whereby movement 0 the drill stem in either direction maybe controlled.

,9. In a device of the character described, a well casing, a drill pipetherein, means to preserve a flllld tight fit between said casing anddrill pipe, a hydraulic cylinder adjacent sald casing, a piston therein,a rod on said piston, and a hook on said rod engaging the upper end ofsaid drill pipe.

10. In a device of the character described, a well casing, a drill pipetherein, means to preserve a fluid tight fit between said casing anddrill pipe, a hydraulic cylinder adjacent said casing, a piston therein,a' rod on said piston, and a hook on said rod engaging the upper end ofsaid drill pipe, and detachable pipe en agin means on said casing belowsaid hoo to old said pipe from movement upwardly.

11. In a device of the character described a casing head, a frame abovesaid casing head 1 and supported thereon, a pair of spiders on saidframe, one of said spiders having an up-' wardly tapered seat and theother having a downwardly tapered seat, tapered pipe-engaging slips insaid seats, and means to move said slips to and from pipe-engagingposition.

12. In a device of the character described a casing head, a frame abovesaid casing head and supported thereon, a pair of spiders on said frame,one of said spiders having an upwardly tapered seat and the other havinga downwardly tapered seat, tapered pipe-engaging slips in said seats,and means to move said slips to and from pipe-engaging position,saidmeans comprising a ring connected at the larger ends of said slips,and a leve connected with said ring.

13. In a device of the character described a casing head, a frame abovesaid casing head and supported thereon, a pair of spiders on saidfra1ne,one of said spiders having an upwardly tapered seat and the otherhaving a downwardly tapered seat, tapered pipe-engagin slips in saidseats, and means to move said sips to and from pipe-engaging position,the lower of said spiders being mounted to allow adjustment verticallyrelative to the frame. 0

14. In a well drilling equipment, a surface casing, an outer casing, astuffing box adapted to seal the annular opening between said casings,an inner casing, a head on said outer by, and adapted to seal theopening between said outer and inner casings, a drill stem in said innercasing, a nipple above said head, rods attached to said nipple andanchored to said surface casing, and means anchored to said nipple torestrain upward movement of the other said casings.

15. In a well drilling equipment comprising means to prevent blowouts.including a drill stem, two separately operable means to restrain upwardmovement of the drill stem due to internal well pressure, and anotherseparate means to restrain downward mo 'ement of said drill stem uponlessening of the internal well pressure.

. 16. In a well drilling, equipment comprismg means to prevent blowouts,including a drill stem, two separately operable means to restrain upwardmovement of the drill stem due to internal well pressure, and anotherseparate means to restrain downward movement of said drill stem uponlessening of the internal ,well pressure, one of the first said meansbeing adjustable in a vertical position to prevent locking'of the drillstem by the last said means.

17. In a well drilling equipment compris- 111 means to prevent blowouts,including a drill stem, two separately operable means to internal wellpressure, one vof the first said means being adjustable in a verticalposition to prevent locking of the drill stem by the last said means,the other of the first said means being adjustable to restrain theupward and to compel the downward movement of said drill stem. 1

18. In a device of the character described, a well casing head, a drillstem therein, means to seal the upper end of said casing head about saiddrill stem, rods mounted on said casing head, a spider adjustablevertically on said rods, and means in said spider arranged to grip saiddrill stem to restrain upward movement thereof.

In testimony whereof I hereunto affix my signature this 14th day of Aril, A. D. 1926.

' WILLIAM S. ATTRELL.

